Country: United States
Genre: Romance
Director: Mike Newell
Year: 2007
Rating: 
NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
About a minute into Love In The Time Of Cholera, you can already tell that something’s off. For a mainstream motion picture, the old age makeup is some of the least convincing I have ever seen. And the actors are speaking in English even though the story takes place in Latin America.
For those of you that don’t know, Love In The Time Of Cholera, written by Gabriel García Márquez, is considered one of the greatest novels of the 20th Century. It’s a breathlessly romantic work, and could not be more Latin in tone.
I can imagine the development meetings for this movie. “It has to be in English because that will reach the widest audience.” “We’ll use Spanish-speaking actors to quiet the purists.” “We’ll get that English guy who directed 4 Weddings and a Funeral. Women loved that picture, and that’s the audience we’re after, anyway.”
Most of the actors in Love In The Time Of Cholera are Spanish speaking, and they are encouraged to speak English with a Spanish accent. Unfortunately, we have Puerto Ricans, Spaniards, Mexicans and God knows what other nationalities in the cast, and they all have different Spanish accents. No, they don’t all sound the same. It’s absolutely ridiculous. It would be like making Fargo and hiring people with Southern and New England accents to play the parts.
But that’s not the only problem. Director Mike Newell and screenwriter Ronald Harwood, while both intelligent men, have no clue of how to adapt Marquez’ novel. They know the words, all right, but they’re tone deaf. And achieving the right tone is absolutely crucial to telling this story.
That explains why Javier Bardem, who is perfectly capable of playing Florentino Ariza, the central character, is so awful in the role. Mike Newell is trying for hothouse Latin romanticism, but what he comes up with is a grotesque parody. Oddly enough, Newell does succeed visually, evoking a lush, romantic version of Colombia in the late 1800s. It’s the emotional tone that he doesn’t have a clue about.
You want to know the story? Okay. Florentino Ariza (Javier Bardem) and Fermina Urbino (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) fall in love, but Fermina’s father (John Leguizamo) nips that in the bud. Fermina ultimately marries Dr. Juvenal Urbino (Benjamin Bratt) and Florentino pines away for the next 50 years.
Clearly, what should have been done is to hire all South or Central American actors in the parts, and have the film be directed by a South or Central American, or possibly a Spaniard. Then and only then would the proper tone have been achieved.
As it is, Love In The Time Of Cholera is an interminable slog. It isn’t romantic, moving, or dramatic. You feel embarrassed for the filmmakers.
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